Announcements for February 26-March 3, 2012

O Paradise, garden of delight and beauty, dwelling-place made perfect by God, unending gladness and eternal joy, the hope of the prophets and the home of the saints, by the music of your rustling leaves beseech the Creator of all to open the gates which my sins have closed, that I may partake of the Tree of Life and Grace which was given to me in the beginning! (From Vespers)

We are made in the image and likeness of God, and that God is a Trinity of persons in absolute identity of being and of life in perfect communion. Therefore, communion is the given. Anything that breaks that communion destroys the very roots of our existence. That’s why forgiveness is essential if there is going to be human life in the image of God. We are all sinners, living with other sinners, and so 70 times 7 times a day we must re-establish communion — and want to do so. The desire is the main thing, and the feeling that it is of value. (Fr. Thomas Hopko) — originally in Parabola magazine; re-published: